Sunday, December 25, 2011

Nerf Rayven CS-18 - Review!

Introducing the latest in Firefly Tech... the Nerf Rayven CS-18!

The Nerf Rayven uses a "bullpup" design with a flywheel powered system to launch foam darts in semi-auto. It features 2 spinning flywheels positioned in a vertical layout (similar to the Nerf Barricade).

Pull the "acceleration trigger" button at the trigger handle (similar to the Nerf Vortex Nitron) to power up the flywheels, then pull the main trigger to fire. Each trigger pull fires one shot. The rate-of-fire depends on the how quick you can continuously pull the trigger.

It uses the Firefly Tech 18-dart clip which has inbuilt LED lights to "charge" up the special glow-in-the-dark streamline foam darts. Once those foam darts are fired, they will stay glowing briefly, then the glow will fade away. The foam darts can be "re-charged" when back in the clip or from any suitable light source.

The Firefly Tech clip and glow-in-the-dark streamline foam darts are usable with other N-Strike clip-fed blasters. The Rayven can also use all N-Strike clips and drum magazines, as well as normal streamline form darts.

It has tactical rails on the top and on the right side which are compatible with N-Strike accessories. It also has a front barrel attachment point which is compatible with N-Strike barrel attachments too.

damien,They got it off eBay. Here is the link: http://www.ebay.com.sg/itm/50pcs-NERF-N-Strike-clip-system-dart-Mint-Loose-Nerf-Gun-Toy-Child-Boy-RWB08-/280795644518?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4160b98266

Oh, it's finally out! I've been dying for this one! So the light which makes the ammo glow is in the clip itself, and not the gun? Does that mean that if they sell those clips separately someday, we can buy the clips, load them into Recons and Stampedes and fire glowing darts without needing to buy the Rayven? That would be great, but probably also means that they'll probably never sell the extra clips like that....

Battery lifespan depends on the quality and capacity of the batteries used... i've only been testing the blaster for the past few days though, but so far the GP Ultra Alkaline AA batteries i used have lasted for around 600-700 shots and there is still power.

I thought it looked more like the P-90. Which for the record... Is my all time favorite gun. I'm considering selling a few Magic Cards so I can afford one of these babies. I' kind of broke right now. (Being unemployed will do that to a person. XD)

Well, the units i reviewed were sent from an overseas friend a while back (i just didn't have time to review them until now)... but recently some units did pop up on TaoBao too, so you could try searching for them there, not sure if those sellers still have stock though.

Imho, it's very ergonomic and comfortable to use. This is called a "bullpup" design, the trigger handle is positioned further forward, so everything behind that is actually the shoulder stock, which also houses the clip and firing system. This allows the blaster to be shorter and more compact.

You can read more about "bullpup" designs in this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullpup

Looks like the blaster will sit very comfortably in the shoulder, the length between the rear of the blaster and the pistol grip looks similar to that of any blaster you can fit a stock to the rear of. Its just a very compact design thats all :)

Unfortunately, i've already traded away those other blasters and accessories a while back, so i can't do more combination photos with them. I usually don't keep blasters or accessories that i never use in Nerf games anyways... saves space for newer blasters. :)

Sg nerf. When is this goying to be released. I read the official date is march 3rd but it's been in some stores since the 27 of December. Do you know what is going on. Also what do you think of the Scout ix-3. And does the yellow one still work with the Titan. Thankyou in advance.

Official launch dates for new Nerf blasters are just indicative release dates, it's common to see blasters arriving earlier or later at stores. It just depends on the various distribution schedules in different stores and countries.

The Scout IX-3 is quite a nice blaster, it's got a compact form factor and many nerfers like it for it's design.

The yellow versions i've seen still have the secondary trigger activation button at the top of their tactical rails, so they should be able to work with Nerf Titans as integrated blasters too.

It could be due to one of the pressure switches in your Rayven's clip well that is not being activated properly by the other clips and mags, hence the circuit is still open.

Check the sides of those other clips and mags, it could be due to an indentation on the back part which could be the cause. You could try attaching a piece of plastic to that indentation so that it matches with the design on the 18-dart clips.

Alternatively , just use some duct tape to tape down the pressure switches in the clip well, that should solve the issue.

I just looked at the drum and six round clips and found that they had hollowed out spots whereas the other magazines had that spot filled in. I'll just tape down the pressure switches. Thanks for the advice!

Dear SG Nerf, Today I picked up a rayven at my local Target. When I got home, I opened it up, but all the batteries in...ect. (I used NEW batteries bought that day) Upon firing, the darts flew about 6 feet. Do you know what happened? Did I do something wrong? Or is this blaster just defective?

Hi SG Nerf,I'm a long time reader, first time poster. I wanted to ask, have you shot this gun with the spectre barrel? Is it comfortable to hold two handed (like a rifle) with the spectre? And does the recon barrel hurt the ranges? And if it does, is it worth it to be more erganomically like a rifle. Or stay with the spectre barrel?

I've tested the Rayven with various N-Strike front barrel attachments and it can still be used comfortably, though ranges tend to decrease due to the foam darts bumping against the walls of the additional barrel length.

Front barrel attachments are more suitable as prop decoration... performance-wise its still better without them. :)

Sorry, my real question (or more appropriate question over the one last submitted) How many cm is it from the bottom of the muzzle to the place where it stops being flat and starts to cut back on an angle?

Yes, for an overall balance of performance and reliability (especially when using customized "stefan" ammo), i usually use 3 x 14500-size TrustFire Li-Ion rechargeable batteries in my modded Rayvens, which outputs a total of 12.6V.

As mentioned in my Rayven Mod Guide:

http://modworks.blogspot.com/2011/12/nerf-rayven-mod-guide_27.html

Li-Ion batteries when fully charged up are actually at 4.2V (their 3.7V label is just a "nominal" voltage rating).

Hm. Been thinking about getting a Firefly REV-8 to go with my Rayven, but I want to know if you know if the glow in the dark clip system darts A: work with the Firefly, and B: if they get charged by the Firefly's light... Thanks in advance. ^_^

The glow-in-the-dark streamlines can be "charged" up by the Firefly's flash feature... but you may have to remove (or just trim) the plastic dart posts inside the turret barrels as they might interfere with the proper loading of those streamlines. Just test and see.